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There you go. Being banned by the SEC has no effect on his ability to provide services to non-SEC registered OTC companies.
It should, but as we know, OTCMarkets doesn't want to upset their paying customers and really cares nothing for the investing public. They just don't count.
OTCMarkets could always "ban" them from being a provider, but that is pretty meaningless. They have no enforcement power, and it really just means a company doesn't put their name in their disclosure submitted to OTCMarket's website. A lot of sleazy OTC companies utilize banned and/or convicted fraudsters for services. They just keep it on the down low.
Now, if they were an SEC registrant employing an individual prohibited from practicing in front of the SEC (which includes CPA's and other financial reporting professionals), that is a different matter. That is actually a law, and the SEC's enforcement powers and penalties are real.
But, a number of SEC prohibited individuals continue to provide professional services to OTC companies as long as they are not SEC registrants. It shouldn't work that way, but does.
"So, is it legal for a CPA to be a CPA for a penny stock while his CPA licenses is revoked?"
Yes.
CPA is only a designation. You don't need to be a CPA to provide accounting or financial reporting services to any company, even SEC reporting ones.
Of course, having a revoked CPA involved with ANY company is a massive red flag........
Forbes presents "Attack of the Naked Short Sellers"!
It is hilarious. And pretty much 100% true about how the MMTLP mess went down.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonkochkodin/2023/12/27/attack-of-the-naked-short-sellers-mythical-beasts-of-the-night-or-how-meme-stock-investors-went-cult-y/
Common shares are being cancelled under the final bankruptcy plan. Common shareholders will receive nothing.
"On the Effective Date, each Existing Equity Interest, shall be cancelled, extinguished, and discharged, subject to applicable law, and each holder thereof shall not receive or retain any property under this Plan on account of such Existing Equity Interest."
I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I do remember the story and Mitts. IIRC, some of the shorters being investigated named him in their public responses over the Spring and Summer when the mainstream media picked up on the story, but I haven't heard much of anything since.
I am not convinced the SEC took what he did at face value, or that his research directly led to the SEC's investigation. His supporters insinuate they did, but I am skeptical. I believe the basis of his claims of "short and distort" is that there is a lot of volume in short-term, out -of-the-money option contracts in stocks that are covered by the short sellers. But what is missing that trading in such contacts has exploded in ALL stocks due to meme players. They are regularly buying and selling such contracts because they are low-priced and short-term in nature. If it were only in the stocks immediately before the short sellers issue a report, that would be one thing. But it isn't that at all.
I haven't seen anything recently that has changed my opinion that what the SEC is looking at is NOT "short and distort", which includes these short sellers issuing known falsehoods to manipulate stocks, but instead that the short sellers are somehow sharing information with others prior to the release of the reports. It isn't stock manipulation as the anti-short selling cabal claims, but instead is about insider information. A completely different thing, but likely illegal, just as if a long analyst tipped others prior to the public release of a bullish report. I don't know if the SEC is even considering that the short sellers are issuing false reports at all. Where I sit, it seems the short sellers' reports are factual (the market doesn't always listen, but that doesn't change the confirmation of the facts), and their batting average is at least as good, if not better, than many of the established long analysts these days.
TIO's Dozy speaks! (supposedly)
Dozy supposedly issued a statement this morning. But I can't find the statement itself, just references to it in various African media outlets. That makes me believe that Dozy or his people E-mailed a statement to only friendly African outlets, many of which are already covering for him.
Here is one of them (one of the least crazy ones):
https://www.legit.ng/business-economy/money/1570133-after-days-waiting-nigerian-billionaire-accused-fraud-finally-speaks-out/
Yup, from jail!
Oh, wait a minute........
I believe this is Tingo's paid PR firm.
https://www.mzgroup.us/
They are just one of the many providers that are likely to get a nasty black eye from the Tingo scam. But unlike some others, I doubt the PR firm will end up coughing up any cash in potential lawsuits.
I believe Tingo has a paid PR company under contract that writes their releases, and that release smacks of professional CYA.
And how long before Dozy is behind bars? Not long, I bet. I would not be surprised if he has already been indicted in the US, but it remains sealed until they can arrange with whatever foreign nation he is currently in (UK?) to get him on US soil and place him into custody.
This time may very well be the last time, as I think it likely that there are criminal charges coming for Christopher here.
And his cousin is the current Home Secretary.
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/james-cleverly
He is likely trading on the family connection.
Dividends do not have to come from current profits, or even from current cash flow. But, by law, they must come from capital which is surplus to the company's total liabilities. In other words, assets which belong to the shareholders, not to debtors or creditors. (in very rare cases, companies have declared dividends based on asset values which are not reflected on the balance sheet, but typically they only do so after independent, legitimate third party valuations have been done and court cases brought by the debtholders have been resolved. It usually involves significantly appreciated, and liquid, real estate holdings, so the number of companies that have done that can probably be counted on one hand with a couple fingers left over).
For Epix, if the Hindenburg research is correct, they may have had no actual shareholder's equity to legally pay dividends from. All the company's actual assets may have belonged to the debtors, and then perhaps some to the creditors. They filed bankruptcy because they couldn't repay their massive amount of debt, and the early valuation of the assets is looking bleak for the debtors recovering all they are owed, much less the creditors. If that turns out to be the case, and it is certainly looking that way, then company almost certainly paid dividends they were not legally allowed to pay.
I would not be surprised in the least if it turns out they were paying that small dividend from their debt and not actual positive cash flow, much less earnings.
If so, that is almost certainly an illegal act. Shareholders can only receive assets that are rightfully and legally theirs. In this case, shareholders may actually own nothing.
I doubt it a a full-on scam like Tingo, but the financial allegations are still of a serious nature and, if even somewhat true, definitely would have contributed to the bankruptcy. It looks and smells a lot like Tingo in many respects, particularly in the financial reporting being controlled by one person, as that screams fraud.
From the original June 2022 Hindenburg report:
The top customer reported just $151,000 in sales in its most recent financials (2020) but has supposedly accounted for $46 million in revenue to EbixCash in FY 2021. We visited its official corporate address and found it was no longer in use. The entity’s key product was an app with only 1000+ downloads and 5 reviews, the last of which was 2018.
The second customer accounted for $43 million in revenue to EbixCash in FY 2021. Despite claiming in corporate filings that 99% of its revenue is derived from e-commerce, its website no longer works. The entity is registered to a 525 sq. foot office space in Delhi. We visited the site and found the business is no longer there.
EbixCash also claims to have a large retail distribution network. We visited the featured branch outlet highlighted in an EbixCash corporate presentation and found it doesn’t exist at the address. The picture of the branch seems to be obviously photoshopped to include an Ebix storefront where there isn’t one.
EbixCash’s subsidiary lists 970 supposed EbixCash independent distributors. We called every one of them: 403 didn’t pick up, 527 told us they didn’t sell Ebix cards, and 40 (~7% of those who picked up) told us they sold the cards. Many who sold the cards told us they were selling fewer now than prior to the pandemic, contrary to Ebix’s claims.
EbixCash also touts its technology offering, claiming its app has 1.5 million downloads. The Google Play store shows “100,000+” downloads with an average review of 1.5 stars across 2,400+ reviews. The ocean of 1-star reviews cite complaints such as money being fraudulently stolen from users, terrible customer service, and the app not working.
We also tested the app. Virtually every claimed feature didn’t work. An EbixCash rep told us the app was “under maintenance”. Based on our experience, the app isn’t even ready for the market let alone a prime-time IPO.
Ebix has a complicated corporate structure, reporting 69 key subsidiaries in 2021, with other sub-entities. In 2021, ~37% of its pre-tax income was derived from murky, opaque tax havens like Dubai and Mauritius. Given our findings on gift card revenue, we suspect there are other accounting skeletons in its closet.
Ebix has cycled through 7 different auditors since 2004, a classic hallmark of accounting irregularities. Its current auditor, KG Somani, is an Indian firm whose only U.S.-listed client is Ebix, per Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) records.
As a former executive of EbixCash told us, “The financial reporting was a very controlled thing. It’s very difficult for anybody running the company to have much visibility on the financial side. It’s very centrally controlled by (Chairman & CEO) Robin (Raina) and his close team. They’ve been working with him for a very very long time.”
We think a substantial portion of EbixCash’s gift card revenue is non-existent. Consequently, we expect the EbixCash IPO will flop or fail. Given Ebix’s massive near-term debt load in a rising rate environment, we see significant solvency risk over the next 12 months.
The Ebix bankruptcy will be interesting, as it might uncover some of the issues that Hindenburg wrote about.
Their auditor is a smaller firm in India, and they were just sanctioned by the PCAOB in August of this year for some pretty serious violations. The types of violations that could easy allow fraudulent revenues and assets to slip through.
https://pcaobus.org/news-events/news-releases/news-release-detail/pcaob-sanctions-k-g-somani-co-llp-engagement-partner-for-violations-of-audit-quality-control-standards
2 wins for Hindenburg today.
"Ebix Files Bankruptcy After Short-Seller Attacks, Debt Woes"
"Short seller Hindenburg Research previously accused Ebix of fabricating some of its revenue, including a substantial portion of revenue in its gift card business — an accusation the company denied."
They won the wrong award!
Tingo also received nominations in four other award categories, including Best Company in Food Security, Poverty Reduction, Stakeholder Engagement, and Use of Storytelling/Communications.
I demand a recount!
That is disappointing. 4 years is a ridiculously light sentence.
The judiciary in the United States continues to under-punish financial crimes. Especially when it comes to those that rip-off huge numbers of individual investors.
Updated Link to SEC Tingo's complaint
https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2023/comp25913.pdf
25912 became 25913
Good question. NASDAQ could have already delisted the stock a long time ago, which was SOP in many other past cases of SEC suspension and suspected fraud. But, in this case, they haven't. By keeping them listed, but suspended, it prevents Tingo from trading anywhere. That may be the SEC and NASDAQ's new tactic in these cases. Since the alleged mastermind of the fraud controls most of the stock, and has been secretly pumping and dumping for years, they probably want to deny him any opportunity to continue to sell shares.
Tingo, assuming they have any actual management or directors left, could apply to voluntarily delist from NASDAQ, but that hasn't happened, either. Even if they do that and go OTC, they would just be expert market.
Hindenburg is widely mentioned in the compliant as "Analyst A".
The full SEC complaint against Tingo holds numerous gems. One is of particular interest to anyone that follows scams and SEC suspension. How often do we hear from pumpers and longs of suspended companies that the SEC recklessly suspends without any investigation, or the investigation begins only when the SEC suspends the stock? Or, even better, the 10 day suspension will allow the SEC to "give the company a clean bill of health" and it will quickly return to trading better than before.
Yeah, about that.
Hindenburg published their report on Tingo on June 6. The SEC suspension of Tingo was on November 13th. The SEC investigation actually began concurrent with the Hindenburg report. Hindenburg says they provide the regulators with the info before they publish, so it is certainly possible the SEC investigation began then, too. The complaint states:
"SEC staff issued multiple investigative subpoenas to Tingo Group, beginning in June 2023, and an investigative subpoena to Agri-Fintech in August 2023."
So, the next time some pumper claims the SEC doesn't start investigating a suspended company until they first suspend, show them that.
Yes, I sure do.
But hopefully this is just the beginning of the next chapter, not the end. Some prison doors slamming shut on these scammers would be a much more appropriate happy ending!
There is also a lot more to come with Tingo's service providers and Directors. Deloitte as their current auditor is the top of the list. Based on the SEC's complaint, the forged documents were clear and obvious fakes. They should have been caught a long time ago.
SEC Charges Tingo Mobile Founder, Three Companies with Massive Fraud and Seeks Emergency Relief
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-25913
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye a/k/a Dozy Mmobuosi and three affiliated U.S.-based entities of which he is the CEO–Tingo Group Inc., Agri-Fintech Holdings Inc., and Tingo International Holdings Inc.–in connection with an alleged multi-year scheme to inflate the financial performance metrics of these companies and key operating subsidiaries to defraud investors worldwide. The SEC is seeking emergency relief to prevent Defendants’ continued dissemination of materially false information to investors and to protect corporate and investor assets.
The SEC’s complaint, filed on December 18, 2023, alleges that, since at least 2019, Mmobuosi spearheaded a scheme to fabricate financial statements and other documents of the three entities and their Nigerian operating subsidiaries, Tingo Mobile Limited and Tingo Foods PLC. The complaint further alleges that Mmobuosi made and caused the entities to make material misrepresentations about their business operations and financial success in press releases, periodic SEC filings, and other public statements. For instance, Tingo Group’s fiscal year 2022 Form 10-K filed in March 2023 reported a cash and cash equivalent balance of $461.7 million in its subsidiary Tingo Mobile’s Nigerian bank accounts. In reality, those same bank accounts allegedly had a combined balance of less than $50 as of the end of fiscal year 2022. According to the SEC’s complaint, Defendants also fabricated the customer relationships that formed the basis of their purported businesses. The complaint alleges that Mmobuosi and the entities he controls have fraudulently obtained hundreds of millions in money or property through these schemes, and that Mmobuosi has siphoned off funds for his personal benefit, including purchases of luxury cars and travel on private jets, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to acquire an English Football Club Premier League team, among other things.
The SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges all four Defendants with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws and additionally charges Nasdaq-listed Tingo Group, OTC-traded Agri-Fintech, and Mmobuosi with reporting, books and records, and internal controls violations. It also charges Mmobuosi with lying to auditors, insider trading, and failing to file Forms 4 disclosing the sales of millions of Agri-Fintech common stock for which he was the ultimate beneficial owner. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and the return, pursuant to Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, of bonuses and profits obtained by Mmobuosi from sales of Tingo Group or Agri-Fintech stock. The complaint also seeks an order prohibiting Mmobuosi from acting as an officer or director of a public company or from participating in the offering of any penny stock.
As part of the SEC’s emergency application, the SEC seeks an order to show cause and other temporary and preliminary relief against Defendants, including a temporary restraining order: (1) freezing Mmobuosi’s assets; (2) prohibiting TIH, Agri-Fintech and Tingo Group from transferring money or property or issuing shares to Mmobuosi; (3) enjoining Defendants from selling or otherwise disposing of their respective holding in Agri-Fintech and/or Tingo Group stock; (4) prohibiting Defendants and their agents from destroying, altering, or concealing records and documents; and (5) ordering Defendants to show cause why a preliminary injunction continuing the relief set forth in any temporary restraining order as well as ordering repatriation of proceeds and a sworn accounting should not be entered.
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by Michael DiBattista, Christopher Mele, David Zetlin-Jones, Jeremy Brandt, Stephen Johnson, Elizabeth Baier, Gerald Gross, and Rebecca Reilly under the supervision of Tejal D. Shah, all of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. The litigation is being led by Mr. Zetlin-Jones, Mr. DiBattista, and Mr. Brandt. The SEC appreciates the assistance of Nasdaq’s Enforcement Department.
No, you are mistaken. ADVFN is up-to-date on their filings. They are traded on AIM, and the filing requirements are different than what you are used to in the USA, including filing every 6 months instead of every quarter.
They recently announced their June 30 year-end financials will be published next week.
"The Company's annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 30 June 2023 are expected to be published in the week commencing 18 December 2023 and will be made available to shareholders via a separate announcement."
https://www.advfn.com/stock-market/london/AFN/stock-news/92729716/advfn-plc-notice-of-agm
Finally. FINRA is punishing brokerages for allowing pretty much anybody and everybody to trade options and ignoring the suitability requirements.
This one is a doozy. Fidelity was censured and fined $900,000 for their failures in allowing unsuitable people to trade options. Fidelity approved people based on only their claims made on the option application. They didn't check that application against their other documentation, or their actual account data, or against previous applications. If Fidelity actually rejected someone, all they had to do was make another application and change the numbers. Fidelity did not consider if a customer had submitted multiple applications, which is pretty much a sure sign they are lying on the most recent application. They just ignored the prior ones, so anyone who wanted to trade options just had to keep fudging their numbers until they got it approved. No consequences.
And the one that really gets me is that Fidelity required a customer to have 1 year of investment experience to trade options. But, their system only considered experience after a person was 18. So, if a person was under 19 but claimed on their application that they had the year's experience, they were approved, even though they couldn't have and it was clearly a lie. As I have said here before, Fidelity was well known in the trader community for approving unsophisticated and broke 18 year olds for option trading, no questions asked. Now we know why.
https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/oversight-enforcement/finra-disciplinary-actions?search=2021071987001
COWI is insolvent based on their own SEC filings.
Besides being overdrawn at the bank and bouncing checks, they state this in their most recent 10-Q:
The Company has a working capital deficit of $24,796,865 and $24,786,737 as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. The Company has accumulated deficits of $64,427,436 and $64,003,956 as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. Additionally, the Company is in default of substantially all of its debt and other obligations (see Notes G, I, J and L)."
Massive working capital deficit and in default on "substantially all" of its debt and liabilities. They can't pay anyone. That is the definition of insolvent. And it is not getting better, but worse. Every day COWI racks up over $3,300 in interest charges on their toxic debt. EVERY SINGLE DAY. COWI can't cover that, and they can't hire enough people to pump the stock enough to find buyers to sell stock to cover it. EVERY SINGLE DAY. The only way COWI was able to keep the lights on and file this 10-Q was by borrowing almost $100K from their former subsidiary.
So what are they going to do next quarter? Or is that when Lloyd again goes dark?
6 A.M. to 10 P.M. Eastern Monday through Friday. Closed Federal Holidays.
Live Filing deadline for corporate filings is 5:30 Eastern. Ownership filings are live filed during all operating hours.
NEGATIVE CASH! BOUNCING CHECKS!
As if COWI couldn't get even MORE insolvent, now they are not only overdrawn at the bank, but they are borrowing almost a HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars from their former subsidiary just to keep the lights on (and to pay the service providers for the 10-Q).
But for how long? Eventually no one will take their IOU's considering they still owe creditors from over a decade ago and haven't repaid them a cent! Anyone doing business with them without getting the cash upfront is a fool that will just get stiffed like everyone else that came before them.
Way to go Lloyd!
This is a pump and dump.
The entire company isn't worth a penny. Which is why people are being paid to pump it on social media so the toxic funders and insiders can find suckers to buy their shares.
More shameless (and likely paid) pumping on this worthless POS stock.
Why am I not surprised? The toxic funders pay people to post on social media to find stupid people to buy their stock.
Because anyone with a brain would avoid this dead and rotting company.
I said none of those things.
You need to keep better notes. Or do better research.
Or both.
Mexus is broke, insolvent, and has disappeared.
If there is actually any activity at the property, it is almost certainly NOT Mexus doing it. It is most likely the Government trying to avert an environmental disaster due to Mexus' abandonment of the property.
Take that to the bank.
COWI is, and has been for years, nothing but a pump and dump. Lloyd finds a story he can pump and then, when volume dries up and he and his toxic lender friends can no longer find suckers to dump their stock on to, COWI goes dark for awhile and waits for those that know about his scamming to fade away. Later, he finds a new hot story to pump and does it all over again.
The current pump is the FOURTH on this ticker by Lloyd. And since he hasn't filed the overdue 10-Q and the spin-off keeps getting delayed (either because of COWI's insolvency or that he has never had any intention of doing it - just part of the pump), COWI is probably not long from pulling his disappearing act again.
You clearly have no idea what solvent means.
COWI is completely insolvent, and it gets worse every single day. That interest on the toxic death spiral convertibles is over $3,000 every single day. COWI has no revenue, and cannot pay it. That just increases the hole they are in.
Sure, but the SEC actually reviews SEC filings. And has the authority to do something about ones that are incomplete or wrong.
OTCMarkets does neither.
And most investors don't understand the difference.
Far too many penny stock investors don't have the experience or knowledge to know the difference, anyway, and just believe that the disclosure posted at OTCMarkets is accurate. And that is what the scammers are counting on.
In many ways, OTCMarkets is the best thing that has happened to the stock scamming business in decades. It gives them a platform for disseminating lies easily and cheaply while providing compliance for Rule 144 disclosure that allows insiders to dump, dump, dump quickly quickly quickly.
I disagree. In my experience, OTCMarkets does nothing, even with the most obvious scams. As long as they pay their bills to OTCMarkets, of course.
They only use the threat of Caveat Emptor against those that don't pay. If they don't file, they just go pink. But as long as they upload something, no matter how ridiculous, it is OK with them as long as they are current on their bills.
Coulson knows the SEC and FINRA will never allow him to become a regulator, so now he is pretending to not want it. It is like the little kid on the playground who tries to join the game, and when he is turned down, he pretends he never wanted to play, anyway. He is fooling no one. He lobbied -- HARD - for regulatory authority for years and years.
No information is still better than wrong information. It may be more helpful for the individuals like yourself that have knowledge and know about the markets, but for the vast majority of people buying penny stocks, they don't have that ability and therefore are easily fooled by the wrong information. Which is exactly the intent. And OTCMarkets clearly could not care less as long as their fees are paid.
Fully regulated my ass. What a crock.
He is picking and choosing his metaphors. Poorly. No one EVER said everything traded on an Exchange is "safe". And OTCMarkets STILL is the wild, wild west because no one has direct authority to do anything about obviously fake filings and those that outright lie about being GAAP compliant and such.
Sure, more "information" is available on these issuers, but quite often it is wrong or incomplete information. Sometimes it is inadvertent, but most of the time it is intentional by the issuer and their enablers to scam the public. And OTCMarkets does absolutely nothing about it because they can't. They are not a regulator for one, and even if they could, it is doubtful they would, since these are their clients and they want their money.
Wrong information is not better than no information, as its sole purpose is to defraud. And that sums up OTCMarkets in a nutshell.